When spring arrives, it’s the start of the season for one of the finest and most sought-after vegetables in our cuisine: asparagus. Hardly any other product is so synonymous with fine seasonality, light cuisine and culinary sophistication. Asparagus was already known to the ancient Egyptians and Greeks, but it was the Romans who cultivated it – not only for eating, but also as a medicinal plant. It fell into oblivion in the Middle Ages before experiencing a renaissance at the courts of Europe in the 16th century. Since then, it has been considered a “royal vegetable”, not least because of its laborious cultivation, short harvest time and fine taste.
The most popular asparagus varieties – green, white and purple
Whether green, white or purple – botanically speaking, asparagus is always the same plant: Asparagus officinalis. The difference lies in the cultivation method. White asparagus grows underground and is cut as soon as it sees the light, tasting mild and slightly nutty. Green asparagus grows above the ground, develops chlorophyll through sunlight and therefore has a more intense, slightly bitter flavor. Purple asparagus – a rarity – is harvested when the heads have already received a hint of sunlight. It is spicier, sometimes slightly sweet and is particularly popular in French cuisine.
In Austria, the Gijnlim, Cumulus and Backlim varieties are among the most popular – they are characterized by uniform growth, delicate texture and excellent taste. Domestic asparagus from Marchfeld, Upper Austria and Southern Styria is particularly popular.
What to look out for when buying asparagus
Freshness is the be-all and end-all when it comes to asparagus. The spears should be firm and shiny, the tips juicy and not dried out. If you rub two asparagus spears together, you should hear a squeaking sound – a sure sign of freshness. White asparagus must be peeled carefully, green asparagus usually only needs a little work on the lower third. Wrapped in a damp cloth, it will keep fresh in the fridge for two to three days.
Four seasonal recipes from top chef Harald Huber
For all those who not only love asparagus, but also want to eat it really well, we recommend taking a look at the new cookbook by Harald Huber, the chef of Salzburg’s traditional “Fischerwirt” restaurant. In his book “Richtig gut essen – Harald Huber im Fischerwirt”, which has just been published by Servus-Verlag, we are giving away 5 copies to our readers (click here to enter the prize draw: xxxxxx) and the award-winning chef presents creative asparagus dishes – from classic to sophisticated. We have selected four for you:
Lukewarm asparagus salad with smoked sturgeon
Ingredients for 4 people
For the asparagus:
- 12 white asparagus spears
- Salt water for blanching
- Dressing to warm up
For the dressing:
- 100 ml asparagus water (cooking stock)
- 25 ml white balsamic vinegar
- Salt, pepper from the mill
- 250 ml safflower oil
For the asparagus and orange salad:
- 1 ripe avocado
- Asparagus slices (see below)
- 32 orange fillets
- 50 g blanched root vegetables (finely diced, brunoise)
- Dressing
For the smoked sturgeon:
- 200 g smoked sturgeon fillet
- 50 g butter
To serve:
- 4 green asparagus spears (raw, cut into thin shavings)
- some avocado cream
- small basil leaves
- Linseed potato chips
Preparation:
Carefully peel the white asparagus, blanch in salted water until al dente and rinse in ice water. Keep the cooking water. Cut the lower parts of the asparagus into thin slices, put the tips (approx. 8 cm) to one side and heat in dressing before serving.
To make the dressing, mix the asparagus water with the vinegar, salt and pepper, slowly pour in the oil and whisk to form an emulsion.
Peel and dice the avocado and mix with the asparagus slices, orange fillets and root vegetables. Marinate with dressing.
Warm the sturgeon fillet in butter. Arrange the salad, marinate the raw green asparagus shavings with dressing and drape over the salad. Place the asparagus tips and sturgeon on top, finish with avocado cream, basil and linseed potato chips.
Cream of asparagus soup, prawn tempura
For the cream of asparagus soup
- 300 g white asparagus
- 50 g butter
- 800 ml soup
- Salt
For the shrimp tempura
- 8 raw prawns, peeled
- Salt
- 100 g tempura batter mix
- ice-cold water
- 500 ml sunflower oil, for deep-frying
- 1 slice of toast
- 50 g butter
- 50 ml sunflower oil
- 80 g mashed potatoes
Preparation:
To make the asparagus cream soup, carefully peel the asparagus and cut off the bottom end. Cut the asparagus spears into slices and sauté in the butter until colorless. Then pour in the basic soup and simmer for about 20 minutes. Then blend finely and strain. Season the cream of asparagus soup with salt and blend until frothy.
For the prawn tempura, clean the prawns and season with salt. Mix the tempura batter mix with ice-cold water according to the packet instructions. Heat the sunflower oil to 170 °C. Pass the prawns through the tempura batter one by one and deep-fry in the hot sunflower oil until golden brown. Then drain briefly on kitchen paper.
In the meantime, remove the crusts from the toast and cut into four pieces. Then fry in the butter and sunflower oil until crispy on both sides. Leave the toasted bread to cool on kitchen paper.
Spoon two dollops of potato puree onto the toasted bread and place a prawn on top. Then serve with the cream of asparagus soup.
Morel cream pasta, asparagus
For the pasta dough:
- 400 g coarse wheat flour
- 4 eggs
- 50 g olive oil
- coarse wheat flour, for working with
- Salt
- a little olive oil for tossing
For the asparagus: - 16 white asparagus spears
- 2 l water
- Salt
- Sugar
For the morel cream sauce:
- 100 g onions, finely diced
- 50 g butter
- 32 fresh edible morels, alternatively
- soaked in water dried
- Edible morels
- 100 ml brandy
- Salt
- Pepper from the mill
- 1 garlic clove
- 200 ml light-colored basic sauce
- 200 ml veal jus
- 200 ml cream
To serve:
fine herb tips
Preparation:
To make the pasta dough, knead the coarse wheat flour, eggs and olive oil into a smooth, supple dough, cover and leave to rest briefly. Roll out the pasta dough in portions into wafer-thin sheets using a pasta machine or rolling pin. Roll up the pasta sheets and cut into thin strips. Sprinkle the ribbon noodles with a little coarse wheat flour and shape into nests.
Cook the pasta nests promptly in plenty of boiling salted water for about 1 minute, then drain and toss in a little olive oil.
Carefully peel the asparagus spears and cut off the bottom ends. Bring the water to the boil and season well with salt and sugar. Boil the asparagus spears for 1 minute, then drain and collect the asparagus stock. Measure out 220 ml of hot asparagus stock and leave the asparagus spears to steep in it for 15 minutes.
For the creamy morel sauce, sauté the onions in the butter until colorless. Add the cleaned morels and sauté. Then deglaze with the brandy and season with salt, pepper and a little chopped garlic. Pour in the basic sauce, veal jus and cream and simmer until smooth. Take out the morels and blend the sauce until frothy.
Arrange the asparagus spears on plates. Roll up the pasta and lay it across the asparagus spears. Arrange the morels and pour the foamed morel cream sauce over the pasta. Finally, garnish with fine herbs.
Char fillet, white asparagus, chive sauce
For the asparagus:
- 8-12 spears of white asparagus, depending on size
- 1-1.5 l water
- Salt
- Sugar
For the char: - 600 g fresh char fillet, ready to cook, with skin
- 50 g butter
- 100 ml olive oil
- Salt
For the chive sauce:
- 300 ml light-colored basic sauce
- 1 bunch of fresh chives
- Salt
To serve:
- 600 g mashed potatoes
- Potato potato chips
- fine chive stems
Preparation:
Carefully peel the asparagus spears and cut off the bottom ends. Bring the water to the boil and season well with salt and sugar. Boil the asparagus spears for 1 minute, then drain and collect the asparagus stock. Allow the asparagus spears to steep in a little heated asparagus stock for about 15 minutes.
Remove the bones from the char fillet, clean and divide into four portions. Heat the butter together with the olive oil. Slowly fry the char fillets skin side down until crispy and done. Season with salt to finish.
For the chive sauce, bring the light-colored basic sauce to the boil once. Finely chop the chives and add. Blend everything briefly until frothy and season with salt.
Place the asparagus spears in the middle of the plates and arrange the char fillets on top. Pipe large dollops of potato puree all around and garnish with potato potato chips and fine chive stalks. Finish with a little frothy chive sauce on the plates.
Note: Some of the recipes contain sub-recipes that you can either find in the book “Richtig gut essen” or comparable recipes on the web.
All recipe photos: Helge and Patrick Kirchberger
We can recommend this asparagus top: Click here to go to Amazon*
The book “RICHTIG GUT ESSEN” is available here: To Amazon*
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